Mudd's Women
In the Harry Mudd ' |image= |series= |production= |producer(s)= |story= |script=Stephen Kandel |director=Harvey Hart |imdbref=tt0708439 |guests=Roger C. Carmel as Harcourt Fenton 'Harry' Mudd, Karen Steele as Eve McHuron, Maggie Thrett as Ruth, Susan Denberg as Magda, Jim Goodwin as Lt. John Farrell, Gene Dynarski as Ben Childress, Jon Kowal as Herm Gossett, Seamon Glass as Benton |previous_production=The Corbomite Maneuver |next_production=The Enemy Within |episode=TOS S01E06 |airdate=13 October 1966 |previous_release=The Enemy Within |next_release=What Are Little Girls Made Of? |story_date(s)=1329.8-1330.1 (2266) |previous_story=The Corbomite Maneuver |next_story=The Enemy Within }} Summary Harry Mudd, with his cargo of three beautiful women, is beamed aboard the Enterprise, just as his ship is destroyed in an asteroid field. In rescuing Mudd and his women, the Enterprise burns out it's dilithium crystals. The starship proceeds as quickly as it can to a mining planet to replenish it's supply. Mudd, against whom Kirk has filed criminal charges, makes advance contact wityh the miners, promising them his women in exchange for his freedom. The miners, led by Ben Childress, agree to the deal, only to discover that the women are using a highly illegal Venus drug to make themselves beautiful. The marriages work out nonetheless, and Kirk gets Harry - and the crystals he needs to run his ship. Errors and Explanations Plot Oversights # The guards in the hearing room apparently ignoring Mudd's comment about taking over Enterprise. One of them probably reported this to Kirk off screen, while the other was guarding Mudd. # Mudd barging into Kirk's meeting despite being confined to quarters, and under guard. Mudd could have insisted on being allowed out of the room to talk to Kirk. # Kirk apparently walking out without the crystals. They were probably packed up outside. Equipment Oddities # Uhura’s failure to pick up Mudd’s transmission. The use of battery power may have made it difficult to monitor every frequency, especially if Mudd found a way of routing the transmission through the sensors. ' Nit Central # ''Todd M. Pence on Tuesday, October 13, 1998 - 7:59 pm - When talking to Ben Childress about the lithium crystals, Kirk states that the Federation has authorized him to pay an equitable price for them. This goes against the contention in several other sources (most notably the movie STIV that the people in Star Trek's time don't use money, as does the charge against Mudd that he purchased his vessel using counterfeit currency. '''The Federation probably uses a credit system for trades, such as those alluded to above. # Keith Alan Morgan on Monday, April 12, 1999 - 6:28 am - If these Lithium crystals are so important to running the ship, then why don't they have any spares? They may not have any available at this point. # Since it takes four crystals to run the ship, why does Kirk only get six crystals from Rigel XII? He should get eight to be on the safe side. Those six crystals may have been the only ones suitable for immediate use. # Spock seemed amused to introduce Mudd and the women to Kirk, and when the ladies leave he leers, smiles and gives a very un-Vulcan shrug. I guess "Vulcanians" are not as immune to the ladies charms as Mudd assumed. Spock also seems to be affecting some kind of accent when he makes the introductions. This is probably a side effect of Spock being half human. # Either Mudd's mug shot is reversed or Mudd likes to rotate his earring every five thousand light years or so. Possibly both - switching the earing could prevent the earlobes from getting too stretched. # Kirk and Spock are looking at the burnt out lithium crystal and Kirk says the choice was between burning out the crystal and saving another man's ship. I thought Mudd's ship was destroyed? Using Kirk's argument, since they failed to save the ship then they burned out the crystal for no good reason. The crystal burnt out before they were able to prevent the other ship's destruction. # When Kirk, Spock and Mudd beam down to the planet they do it outside the building in a dust storm. Wouldn't materializing in a dust storm be a bad thing to do? The buildings could be designed to inhibit transporter function. # The exterior of the building looks like a building, but the interior seems to be carved out of rock, even the door looks like rock. The miners probably added sections of building modules to the entrance of small caves dug out of the rock face. # Benn (Benn) on Tuesday, March 08, 2011 - 12:28 am - How does the transporter materialize Kirk, Spock and Mudd on windswept Rigel XII without getting any of the flying debris intermingled with their molecular structures? Shouldn't the three have materialized with particles of sand, rock, whatever inside of them? The transporter generates a cylindrical force-field around the person/item being transported. # The miners don't have water?! Childress claimed that if he had the water, he'd be able to clean the pans. You'd think a mining operation on as inhospitable a world as Rigel XII would be equipped with as many necessities for survival as possible. And that should include plenty of water. Childress is referring to spare water, ie water left over from the amount used for drinking and cooking. Notes Sources Category:The Original Series Category:Episodes